The Phoenician
The Phoenician is the name given to the personal strongohld of Sastor Mcnatty, PIrate Baron of the South. Comprised of an enormous floating barge the size of a small town, The Phoenician is home to the Mcnatty Fleet, as well as the baron himself and a small army of vagabonds, drifters and outcasts. As one of the four cardinal strongholds of the Council of Barons, The Phoenician is a safe harbour for the Elusians' pirates and a major site of commerce for the region's criminal underbelly. History Years after The Uprising and the defeat of the colonists, a fledgling society had grown throughout the Elusian Isles. One of the major players was Sastor Mcnatty, a Mainlander noble who had travled to the Isles fleeing a wide variety of creditors. After running afoul of Kalu Cove, The Natives to the north and the bandit towns in ShatterShore, Mcnatty had nowhere left to turn. Resenting his position, he elected to build a safe harbour for himself, choosing a wide channel between Kontembi and Kalu Islands as the site. With all the money he had left, he built an enormous barge, with a bar atop it he called "Mcnatty's." Soon, travelers and criminals alike flocked to Mcnatty's for to rest and trade, filling the former noble's coffers and creating a hub in the Southerly Isles. To protect his investment, Mcnatty began employing local pirates for protection, eventually assembling the first incarnation of The Mcnatty Fleet. As Dupont influence grew in the region, Mcnatty's pirates began staging raids on shipments, to not only shore up their eastern border, but as well generate much-needed income for the growing community on the Barge. Years later, Mcnatty joined forces with Hieronymous Ridley, Alexander Croup and a series of warring ShatterShore men to form the Council of Barons, naming The Phoenician as one of the group's four cardinal strongholds. Layout ::: "Like I say, I’m a builder. Not much space left on tha’ barge to build on, don’t ye know." - Killarney Yawpton The Phoencian is a barge of monumental size, filling a good half of the channel it sits on by width. On either side is an enormous mooring mechanism, stretching from the edges of the structure to anchoring points on either shore. Next to them are smaller version of the same apparati, allowing landbound caravans to shuttle their wares across to the barge's harbour. At the centre of the structure is Mcnatty's, a multi-storey building that acts simultaneously as the Mcnatty Fleet's garrison, the Baron's own living quarters and a full-service tavern on the bottom two floors. The top level of the bar is partially constructed of a ship's prow, jutting out over the town square with the upper deck serving as a balcony for the Baron and his guests. The outcropping serves as an homage to Ridley's Bilge, a fellow stronghold to the Phoencian that was hereabouts completely constructed from a naval derelict. The remainder of the town is comprised of tightly packed shacks, bunkhouses, brothels, black markets, fisheries and other such establishments. Land ownership is fuzzy to say the least, and the going policy is that as long as someone doesn't spring leaks in the floors or stack their buildings too high, the Mcnatties don't mind. Territory The Phonecian is the centrepiece of Sastor Mcnatty's influence, located between the territories of Kalu Cove to the West and Kontembi Station to the East. While the Baron's influence on the surrouding waters is vast, his territorial lands are comparatively miniscule. On Kontembi Island, Mcnatty defenders have carved out a small area surrounding the mooring station, where Dupont goons have learned not to tread. Across the channel, the Kalu City Watch is spread too thin to control the whole of their island, ceding territory not only to the Mcnatties, but as well to the Black Hills Gang in the northwest. The Phoencian enjoys a wider berth on the western side. In The Books In Hartford's Hazards, The Phonecian is a major location in Hollis' rise to power. It is there that Hollis signs up to join Mcnatty's Fleet, and where he is sent on his mission to undermind Lucius Doherty. Shortly after, Hollis is banished from The Phoenician and the Southern Waters entirely, but not before coming into contact with Calhoun, the Dupont man who would later trick him into burning the Governor's Island to the ground. In The Council of Barons, The Phoenician is never visited in person, though Hollis is not free from Mcnatty's influence. Territorial disputes plague him for the early chapters, as he struggles to carve out a place between Mcnatty and the Baron of the East, Lucky Jim Haverstram. It is only after the Sixteenth Baronsmoot that Hollis is officially welcomed back to The Phoenician, though he never gets the chance to make the trek.